View full size"We're closing the achievement gap -- and we're doing it through strategic models," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement. "The (Middle School Quality Initiative) has been central in preparing students for college and careers by sharing best practices across our system of great schools."NYC Mayor's Office/Spencer Tucker

Students at 20 middle schools across the city will be staying
in class longer as part of a pilot program announced by Schools Chancellor
Dennis Walcott and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn Monday.

The pilot is part of a larger expansion of the city's Middle
School Quality Initiative, a program aimed at improving literacy instruction in
all middle school grades.

The program will be expanded over all -- with 12,000 students
at 40 schools benefiting, according to the city. But only 20 of the schools in
the program will be part of the pilot, which will extend the school day by roughly 2.5 hours and offer "intense literacy training" for high needs middle-schoolers.

Through a partnership with The After School Corporation
(TASC) and the Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University (EdLabs), 20
middle schools in the pilot program will be able to offer an extra 12 hours per
week of "literacy-focused support embedded" within an extended school day.

TASC will work with community-based organizations to provide
intensive literacy tutoring during an extended school day -- and EdLabs will
help design the tutoring.

The city has not identified which 20 schools will be part of
the pilot -- they will be randomly selected from a pool of applicants. But the
program will be targeted at schools serving high-needs students, the city said.

An estimated 2,000 students a year, over the next three
years, will be part of the extended day program.

The expansion of the Middle School Quality Initiatives -- and
the pilot -- is being made possible by $4.56 million in grants from the Robin
Hood Foundation and the New York City Council. The DOE is also contributing $1.55
million to the program's expansion.

So far, the Middle School program has served about 27,000
students across the city.

"We're closing the achievement gap -- and we're doing it
through strategic models," Walcott said in a statement. "The (Middle School
Quality Initiative) has been central
in preparing students for college and careers by sharing best practices across
our system of great schools."

Ms. Quinn said middle schools are key to closing the
achievement gap.

"Through the expansion of the successful Middle School
Quality Initiative and our innovative program to extend the school day and
offer intense literacy training to high needs kids, both students and teachers
will soon benefit immensely," she said. ---Follow @siadvance on Twitter, join us on Facebook